JUDY WOODRUFF: Today, the
U.N. Security Council voted
unanimously to extend a crucial aid
operation for Syria one day
before it was set to close,
after a deal between the U.S.
and Russia. The White House
said that President Biden and
Vladimir Putin discussed it on a
phone call. But, as Nick Schifrin
reports, some humanitarian
groups say the deal doesn't
go far enough for the millions
of Syrians in desperate need.
NICK SCHIFRIN: For Syrian
children near the Turkish
border, the only way to survive
is to search through scraps.
Ten-year-old Mohammad Adi
begins every day at dawn. If he
finds enough pieces of steel,
he can eat. MOHAMMAD ADI, 10
Years Old (through translator):
I collect and sell steel I find
here, so that I can afford to
buy a loaf of bread. There's
no one that can afford to spend
money on us. We have to work, so
that we can spend what we earn
on ourselves. NICK SCHIFRIN:
The children live here in the
nearby Al-Amal camp. In Northwest
Syria, desperation is everywhere.
Thousands of Syrians who have
come here after fleeing their
homes say all they have left
is God and the United Nations.
For the weathered and the weak,
whose houses were destroyed
by airstrikes, this arid camp
is now home. Fahmy Al-Saud
says if the last humanitarian
aid crossing had closed,
everyone would have turned to the
trash not to trade steel, but
for food itself. FAHMY AL-SAUD,
Syria (through translator): If
they close the border, where
will people go? They will go
to the landfills. If they find
fruit scraps, they will eat them.
They will eat out of starvation,
that level of starvation.
NICK SCHIFRIN: In 2014, the
U.N. Security Council approved four border
crossings for humanitarian aid into Syria.
In January 2020, Russia used
a veto threat to close two
crossings. Seven months later,
under pressure from Russia and China, the
U.N. closed a third crossing, leaving only
one, Bab al-Hawa in the Northwest.
Today's agreement extends
the status quo for six months
with a six-month renewal that a
senior administration official
called virtually automatic. The U.N.
praised the deal. And U.S.
Ambassador to the U.N. Linda
Thomas-Greenfield said the unanimous
vote saved lives. LINDA
THOMAS-GREENFIELD, U.S. Ambassador
to the United Nations: It's
a moment for millions of Syrians who will
not have to worry about starving to death
in the coming weeks. It's
important that the United States
and Russia were able to come
together on a humanitarian initiative that
serves the interests of the Syrian people.
NICK SCHIFRIN: But humanitarian
aid groups say authorizing
a single aid crossing is not
enough to meet the vast need,
and they say Russia's blocking
another proposal that would
have reopened a second crossing
shows disregard for Syrian
lives. Today, Human Rights Watch
said Russia has successfully
blackmailed the international
community. Amnesty International
accused Russia of playing political games
with the lives and welfare of millions of
people. Idlib is the final
stronghold of the Syrian
opposition. Humanitarian workers in
Syria accuse Russia and the Syrian
government of using humanitarian
need for political gain.
SALEM AL ZOUBI, Humanitarian
Worker (through translator):
As aid workers, we demand the
international community
separate human rights work from
politics, and to avoid attaching
policy gains to the distribution
of humanitarian aid. NICK
SCHIFRIN: But Russia and the Syrian
government want the aid to pass
through government-controlled areas.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently
blamed Syria's humanitarian
crisis on the U.S. SERGEI
LAVROV, Russian Foreign Minister
(through translator): If
we're all worried about the
humanitarian problems of the Syrian
people, we need to look at the
full range of reasons, starting
with sanctions, the illegal
seizure of Syrian assets in
foreign banks, at the request
of Washington, a total robbery.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Eighty-five
percent of Idlib's four million
people depend on the Bab al-Hawa
crossing. And now it's also
COVID. This week, the World
Health Organization said the U.N.
is counting on the crossing to
deliver more than 50,000 vaccines.
Last weekend, aid organizations
demonstrated at the crossing
and accused the Russians of
killing them through bombing and
starvation. AISHA, Humanitarian
Worker (through translator): This
decision would subject people
to another form of killing, like
the bombardment we experience
every day from Russia and the
regime. NICK SCHIFRIN: Despite
today's agreement, that bombardment
is relentless. Last Saturday,
Syrian government artillery and
Russian airstrikes destroyed this
home and an office of the Syrian
humanitarian rescue group the
White Helmets. The airstrikes
killed at least eight civilians.
Most of them were children.
Just a mile from the border
crossing, Syrians' families fate
still rests on a vote from the
same country that bombs them.
For the "PBS NewsHour, " I'm
Nick Schifrin.